The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) have issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government to pay the arrears of pensions owed them and also increase the minimum being paid, in line with the impending review of minimum wage.Mr. Abel Afolayan, the national president of the NUP, who made the demands at a news conference in Abuja, said that the union has served the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD the notice in compliance with the extant labour laws.

He said that if the arrears were not cleared, the pensioners would embark on a protest to picket PTAD and other relevant offices connected with this payment.

He said the Federal Government should take pensioners into consideration while increasing Nigerian workers’ wages

“We will like to emphasise again that whatever is finally approved as the national minimum wage should equally apply to pensioners as national minimum pension, with a corresponding circular clearly stating the minimum pension,” Afolayan said.

He said NUP’s demand should not be made to wait until after the release of the new national minimum wage circular, saying this would forestall the union from having “to run helter-skelter”.

The NUP president said the union would not want a repeat of the experience it had in 2010 concerning the national minimum wage and the pension review.

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